and that is because the federal and local tax rates, marginal tax rates combined in high tax states are not on high income taxpayers are now in the neighborhood of 50%. in my home state of connecticut, it's 48.5%, in new jersey and new york, it's higher. and in california, it's higher again. >> right. >> and 50% is well past the peak of the curve, meaning that as production rises -- as taxes rise, production diminishes. so, when taxes go to 100%, production goes to0 and the government collects nothing. >> right. >> so, as taxes rise, the government's stake will diminish. and the government's stake is maximized somewhere between 40% and 45%. and we are beyond that. so, the government's stake is going to diminish from here on, so raising taxes is no longer going to be an answer to deficit reduction and apparently neither is cutting spending. >> yeah, i mean, i guess, you know, the broad -- the broad populous, you know, the people, i don't know that they necessarily understand the implications of not cutting spending, because it does feel like, you know, it constantly goes on the republica